Public safety personnel often utilize portable battery operated radios and carry a wide variety of public safety accessories, such as a gun, handcuffs, metal canister (pepper spray) and other ferrous material accessories. The ability to detect the presence or absence of such accessories is considered desirable. Existing analog based metal detection electronics require the use of large coils and analog components which take up a tremendous amount of real estate on a printed circuit board, and as such are not appropriate for portable communication systems.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide proximity detection of ferrous materials as part of a portable communication system.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of the embodiments of shown.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments shown so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein. Other elements, such as those known to one of skill in the art, may thus be present.